Lilith sent us a picture of a peculiar sign in Overpeck Park, Leonia, NJ. The sign in question reads:

IF PASSING FROM REAR CALL OUT BEHIND YOU

Granted that we give some “artistic” liberty when it comes to signage especially when space is a premium. Usually, all forms of punctuation tend to disappear first. Maybe it’s cost prohibitive to cut out another stencil in the form of a dot for a period! Lilith had the suggestion that the sign should read:

IF PASSING FROM REAR, CALL OUT FROM BEHIND

This makes complete sense! Then I had a vision of an innocent old lady walking along the path, enjoying the spring weather while trying to spot the early returning birds in the trees still bare from the winter frost when suddenly, an ambitious jogger calls out “AAAAAAAHH” from behind. The vision ended with an interesting description of the peculiar sign by the jogger to a police officer.

Maybe, the sign should read:

IF PASSING FROM REAR, CALL OUT “BEHIND YOU”

This puts an entirely different spin on the old-lady-walking-in-the-park scenario and highlights the importance of punctuation. We may never find out the true intention of the sign maker but Lilith and I both agree that the original sign is incorrect and might even be a bit misleading!

Thanks for the email Lilith! If you spot any typos in the world, send us an email at feedback@typoze.com.